No harsh words exchanged with Dravid, I respect him: Gambhir

KOLKATA: His image taking a bit of beating after verbal duel with Rahul Dravid during Friday's IPL game, Gautam Gambhir on Saturday sought to clear the air by saying that he never exchanged any harsh words with the legendary batsman, who remains a respected figure for him.

This is the second time that Gambhir is involved in such an altercation. In an earlier IPL match, he and Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli were involved in an ugly on-field spat.

On Friday night in the fifth over of the KKR innings, first Manvindra Bisla and Shane Watson started a verbal duel when the latter threatened to throw a ball back at the batsman. Dravid tried to calm down Bisla but the stumper wanted him to cool off Watson first. Gambhir who was batting at the other end, also joined the heated discussion.

In the next over, when Gambhir was stumped by Dinesh Yagnik off Watson, it looked that the batsman again exchanged some words with Dravid before walking off.

However, Gambhir early Saturday morning clarified that there no such altercation happened.

"Guys, u have got it all wrong. No harsh words exchanged between me n Rahul bhai. He was n will always be a respected teammate. No fuss plz," he wrote on his twitter page.

Gambhir actually ridiculed the way last night's incident is being circulated.

"Guess we are always obsessed wid some drama or spice. Sorry none existed between me and rahul. Always respect him," read his second tweet.

Australian spin legend Shane Warne, who led the Rajasthan Royals to IPL title in 2008, ridiculed the Indian opener.

"Question cricket followers - is Ghambir in the top 3 annoying cricketers on the planet ???," Warne wrote on his twitter page.